Delivery table for piling sheets



Oct. 27, 1964 F. W. BUSCH DELIVERY TABLE FOR PILINGSHEETS Filed April2'7, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 1

mww u m EM w m .m F

Fig. 2

Oct. 27, 1964 F. W. BUSCH DELIVERY TABLE FOR PILING SHEETS 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 27, 1962 a r s m w n0 0 .mw r m .m ..I W.A m,w m H. w

Oct. 27, 1964 F. w. BUSCH 3,154,201

DELIVERY TABLE FOR PILING SHEETS Filed April 27. 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Inventor Friedrich W. Busch,

Attorneys United States Patent 3,154,201 DELIVERY TABLE FOR Tl'LTN-GSHEET Friedrich Wilhelm lduseh, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignor to SiernagSiegener Maschinenhau G.rn.h.H., Dahlbrazch, Germany, a corporation of(Germany Fiied Apr. 27, 1962, Ser. No. 199,545 4 iilaims. (Cl. 214-6)This invention relates to a delivery table for lifting sheets from aconveyor and depositing them on a piler table.

For some time past piler devices have been used for piling of sheets orsimilar bodies which are thin-walled in relation to their surface sizethat are brought to the piling location by a conveyor of known type. Theconveyor may move the sheets to the delivery table in regular orirregular succession. Many devices for removing sheets from the conveyorso that they may be piled one on the other have been proposed. In onecase the sheets are supported at opposite edges until they are above thepiler table; then they are released by the supporting links and can fallfreely down on the piler table. For the piling of hot rolled thinsheets, such piler devices are not suited because the sheets can sag inan undesirable manner and drop prematurely. Another familiar type ofpiler device which likewise cannot find application with the piling ofhot rolled sheets uses magnets which lift the sheets from the conveyorand release them above the piler table. Another device deposits thesheets to be piled on a grate-type support which is then drawn out fromunder the sheet causing the sheet to bend down on the pile as thesupport is removed. The disadvantage of such piling devices is obviousand consists essentially in the fact that, particularly with heavy andlarge surface sheets, a considerable friction occurs between them andthe support, which results in high wear and tear and, on occasion, anundesirable damaging of the sheet surface.

The above disadvantages have been removed somewhat through the use of adelivery table in which rails lying between the conveyor rollers areraised to lift the sheet from the rollers and then move it laterallytoward the piling table position. The delivery table is simultaneouslytilted so that the sheet slides off to land on the table. However, sincethe position of the rails when tilted is always the same, the extent ofthe drop of the sheet to the piler table varies. If a high pile ofsheets is desired, the distance of fall of the first sheet to the tableis so great that it and some of the subsequent sheets may be deformed inan undesirable manner.

The present invention aims at the improvement of a delivery table forthe lifting off of sheets, particularly heavy plates, from a conveyorand for the depositing of the sheets on a piler table situated laterallyof the conveyor. The delivery table is lifted above the conveyingsurface by a driven crank arm and is then driven laterally toward thepiler table and is placed in tilted position thereabove in such a mannerthat the height of drop of the sheets running oi the delivery table tothe top of the then-existing pile of sheets always remains the same. Theinvention, therefore, consists of the construction in which the deliverytable is guided to the side of the conveyor toward the piler table bymeans of sliding rails on rollers which can be adjusted in heightcorresponding to the increased height of the pile of sheets. This changein height of the delivery table may be accomplished by automaticadjustment of the rollers vertical position. The height of the rollersmay be increased by gearing actuated by a pawl and ratchets associatedwith the crank arm. In this way, the height adjustment of the rollerswith the forward motion or return motion of the delivery table can beeffected in a simple manner.

3,15%,Zdl Patented Oct. 27, 1964 ice Further, it has proved advantageousaccording to the invention to suspend the guide rollers in a swingingmanner and to couple them flexibly with the adjusting link of the driveby straps. It is also practical to form the delivery table by placingthe sheet carrying rails between adjacent rollers of a conveying rollergear bed. The rails are synchronously driven by common drive means intheir movement toward and away from the piler table.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a delivery table in the neutral end positionbelow the conveying surface of a conveyor in the form of a roller gearbed;

FIG. 2 is the same delivery table in side view with a working positionin which the lifting oif of a sheet from the conveyor has commencedthrough initial movement of the crank arm to the right;

FIG. 3 is likewise the delivery table in side view and in a workingposition shortly after the lifting off of the sheet from the conveyor;

FIG. 4 is the delivery table in side view in the tilted position for thedelivery of the sheet to the piler table;

FIG. 5 is a representation corresponding to FIG. 1 of the delivery tableat the beginning of the formation of a new pile; and

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the formation and arrangement of therails of a delivery table between the rollers of the conveyor.

As a conveyor for the sheets B or similar bodies, thin in relation tothe surface size, to be piled according to the model example, a rollergear bed 1 of familiar construction is used with roller gear bed rollers2. A delivery table 3 is coordinated to this roller gear bed, whichtable can be driven transversely to the longitudinal direction of theroller gear bed. One can perceive from FIG. 6 that the delivery table 3can be formed by separate carrying rails 3a, of which each is arrangedbetween two successive roller gear bed rollers 2.

At the back end of one of the carrying rails 34 of delivery table 3, theend of a crank arm 5 is attached through a coupling hinge 8, while theother end of the crank arm 5 is keyed in a foundation pit 6 to a shaft7a in a bearing 712. A lever 7c is also fastened to shaft 7a. A pistonrod 7d of an adjusting cylinder 76 is attached to the free end of leverby hinge pin 71. The cylinder 7e is held in a pivoting manner bytrunnions 7g to a bearing mounted on the foundation. A sliding rail 3 isfound at the lower side of each of the carrying rails 3a of deliverytable 3. This rail has at its under front end a piece 4a which is curvedto provide an upward slope. Each of the sliding rails 4 is supported ona roller 25 which is provided with flanges 25a to prevent the lateralsliding 0% of the sliding rails 4. The rollers 25 are freely rotatableon axis 11 which is pivotally attached to one end of the guide link 12,whose other end is pivoted to a horizontal axis 13 in a rigid post. Twostraps 14 are pivoted to the bearing axis 11 of the rollers 25 whiletheir other ends are coupled to a pin 16 on the upper end of a threadedspindle 15. The thread of the threaded spindle 15 works together with anut thread (not shown) driven by a helical gear which is situated in thegear housing 17 and driven by shaft 18. At the free end of the shaft 13,as shown in FIG. 6, there is a bevel gear 26 which meshes with a bevelgear 27. Gear 27 is situated on a shaft 29 along with another bevel gear28 whereby gear 28 meshes with a bevel gear 30 on a shaft 31. The shaft31 at its other end has a bevel gear 32 which is engaged with bevel gear33. Gear 33 is fixed on a shaft 34 together with a ratchet 35. The shaft34 is in alignment with but independent of the shaft 7a of the crank arm5. On the crank arm 5 is a pawl 36 which cooperates with the ratchet 35.Through this gear train, the height adjustment of the threaded spindle15 and related roller 25 takes place in direct dependence on the drivemovement of the crank arm 5. Through insertion of an adjustable drive inthe gear train, it is possible to change at will the upward adjustmentwhich is imparted to the threaded spindle 15 with each crank armmovement andthereby to match it to the thickness of sheets B to be piledat any given time.

Normally, the delivery table is found in an inoperative position, as isshown in FIGS. 1 and 5; that is, the supporting rollers 9 projectingfrom the upper surface of the rails 3a lie below the level of theconveying surface of rollers 2. For the delivery of a sheet B arrivingon the roller gear bed 1 adjacent the piler table 10, the piston rod 7dis forced from the cylinder 7 e.- The lever 7 c is swung toward theright, and this turns the crank arm 5 toward the right. 'In this way,the coupling link 8 between the crank arm 5 and the delivery table 3 ismoved upward toward the right along a circular arc. The delivery table 3is thereby pushed toward the right with its back end following an upwardcircular path while its front end is lifted initially by the curvedpieces 4:: as they move along rollers 25. Therefore, the delivery table,comprised ofa substantial number of parallel carrying rails 3a, remainssubstantially horizontal as it moves upwardly to the height of theconveying surface of the sheets, as FIG. 2 shows. In the further courseof the drive movement for the crank arm 5, the sheet B is lifted fromthe rollers 2 (see FIG. 3). The further swinging of the crank arms 5toward the right results in a continuous upward movement of the back endof delivery table 3 in addition to a shiftingtoward the right in thedirection of table 10. Thus the end of the delivery table 3 away fromthe piler table 10 is lifted much higher than the end toward the pilertable 10. Sheet B, as shown in FIG. 4, can roll by gravity off thedelivery table to strike the buffer of the piler table 10. Then uponreturn motion of the delivery table 3 into the initial inoperativeposition, the depositing of the sheet B onto the piler table takesplace.

Through the intermittent operation of the gearing by crank arm 5, theadjusting spindle and the. rollers are raised slightly each time crankarm 5 is swung to the right, thus correspondingly raising the righthandend of delivery table 3. This, of course, gradually decreases themaximum slope of the table 3 but the slope, even when the spindle 15 isat maximum height, will always be sufficient to deliver each succeedingsheet B to the piler table at a substantially constant distance. abovethe previously piled, sheets.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of theexamples of the invention herein chosen for purposes of disclosure whichdo not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A delivery table for lifting sheets or plates from conveyor rollersto deposit said sheets on a piler table adjacent said conveyor, saiddelivery table comprising a plurality of transversely extending memberspositioned between and normally below the upper surface of said rollers,means for shifting said members in the direction of said piler table andsimultaneously raising the rear ends thereof to tilt said members in thedirection of said piler table, rollers supporting and guiding theforward ends of said members as the latter are moved toward and awayfrom said piler table, the maximum angle of tilt of said members beingsufiicient to cause a sheet lifted from said rollers to slide by gravityonto said table, and means for raising said supporting rollers as eachsheet is delivered to the piler table an amount substantially equal tothe thickness of the sheet.

2. A delivery table as set forth in claim 1, and means actuated inconjunction with the member shifting and raising means for automaticallyraising said rollers step by step an amount substantially equal to thethickness of said sheet whereby the forward end of each member will beprogressively raised as the height of the piled sheets increases.

3. A delivery table as set forth in claim 1, said rollers being carriedby linkspivotally connected to the raising means and to a fixed part ofsaid table.

4. A delivery table as set forth in claim 1, the said members having anarcuate under portion that rests on said rollers when said members arein inoperative position, said portion curving upwardly toward theforward end of said member whereby upon initial movement of said memberin the direction of said piler table, said member will move upwardly insubstantially horizontal position until the sheet has been raised fromsaid rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A DELIVERY TABLE FOR LIFTING SHEETS OR PLATES FROM CONVEYOR ROLLERSTO DEPOSIT SAID SHEETS ON A PILER TABLE ADJACENT SAID CONVEYOR, SAIDDELIVERY TABLE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING MEMBERSPOSITIONED BETWEEN AND NORMALLY BELOW THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID ROLLERS,MEANS FOR SHIFTING SAID MEMBERS IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID PILER TABLE ANDSIMULTANEOUSLY RAISING THE REAR ENDS THEREOF TO TILT SAID MEMBERS IN THEDIRECTION OF SAID PILER TABLE, ROLLERS SUPPORTING AND GUIDING THEFORWARD ENDS OF SAID MEMBERS AS THE LATTER ARE MOVED TOWARD